


Kings, Queens, & Pawns

by ezraisangry



Series: What About Your Parents? [4]
Category: The Breakfast Club (1985)
Genre: Alcohol, Bad Parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Loveless Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:47:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ezraisangry/pseuds/ezraisangry
Summary: Claire can't help but feel as if her parents are using her for their own stupid games. Her peers see her as a princess, her parents see her as a pawn.Part 4 of 5 in the "What About Your Parents?" series
Series: What About Your Parents? [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073090
Kudos: 5





	Kings, Queens, & Pawns

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully i'll finish the series by today ! got sidetracked with 'ready or not' , and need to work on 'turn & face the strange' too ... no one let me and my adhd brain start multiple multi-part fics at once ever again . 
> 
> check tags for CWs .

"Claire, darling, you look beautiful" her mother cooed, stroking the red hair in one had and holding a wine class in the other.

The teen girl was sitting at her vanity, trying on new earrings her mother had just bought for her. They were simple diamond studs, and Claire liked them a lot. Basic but elegant and versatile. Still, she knew the real reason her mother had bought them.

"Thank you" she replied, her face blank as she stared in the mirror. The woman standing behind her took another sip of her wine. She always seemed to have a glass in hand...

"You should wear them out tonight"

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm grounded, remember?"

"According to your father, not to me. You can take my car out"

"Uhm... alright" she went along with it, not having the energy to fight her tipsy mother. With that, the woman walked out, leaving Claire in her room. 

Out of boredom, she began doing her makeup. It was a simple look, one she did most days. There was something therapeutic about the routine, fluffy brushes on her cheeks and smooth gloss on her lips. There was no point in doing it other than her own pleasure, but she was okay with that. Makeup was one of the few things she had for herself. Her moment of calm didn't last long, however, when her father entered her room.

"I told you to knock!" she gasped a bit, startled by the door suddenly opening.

"Sorry, Claire-bear" the man grinned a bit, Claire rolling her eyes at the nickname as she screwed the cap of her lip-gloss back on. 

"What do you want?" Claire sighed, trying to contain herself.

"I just wanted to say I added some extra money into your account. Your mother probably forgot your allowance again, anyways... good thing I stepped in"

She pressed her lips together, just nodding a bit. The man always had to find a way to make himself look like a hero. 

"And... if you'd like to go out tonight, I'll take you. I don't think you need to stay grounded"

"I was just going to stay in..."

"Why? You could go out, buy something nice with the money I gave you"

Of course he wanted her to go out. That way, she could go shopping and come home with new clothes and her father would brag about how he paid for them. Just another way he tried to make himself seem like the better parent. And then her mother would get angry and drink til she passed out, then the next day she'd take Claire out to lunch and...

"Claire?"

She snapped from her zone-out. "I... I don't need anything right now. I don't really need more clothes"

"Well, if you do, you know I'll buy you them" he reminded.

"I know" she nodded, sighing as she started cleaning up her makeup "Thank you"

Her father nodded, gently closing the door as he stepped out.

Claire stared in the mirror.

She should be happy, right? Her parents would buy the world for her... but she didn't care. Claire knew she was lucky to have all these things at her fingertips. She knew she was privileged, and she should be grateful. She _was _grateful. But...__

__All that money didn't make up for anything._ _

__Claire wasn't stupid either. She had seen the way her parents interacted... they didn't care about her. They cared about one-upping each other, cared about bragging to their friends. They fought and fought, and seemed to want Claire to pick a side. She saw the same thing with her brother - he didn't fall for it, though, and left to France as soon as he graduated._ _

__Claire couldn't do that._ _

__She was stuck. She was still in high school, and still too hopeful that maybe her parents loved her. That maybe they really did care about her, maybe they were listening. Maybe if she waited long enough..._ _

__Letting out a frustrated grunt, she stood up and walked over to her bed, flopping onto her back. She didn't want to go out. Her friends were the same way, pretending to like each other for attention and status and... God knows what other shallow reasons. Claire hated it. But she couldn't escape it, not with the way her social circle was._ _

__She was just a pawn in everyone else's game, but she didn't even know which side she was playing for._ _

**Author's Note:**

> this one was harder to write , because it required more characterization of her parents , it was interesting to explore though . 
> 
> check out my tumblr , @ ezraisangry   
> comments and kudos appreciated <3


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